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A CrossFitters Guide To Quality Mattresses

crossfit sleep

Often, we overlook the magic and majesty of having good mattresses. A lot of people just settle for what they already have and not understand that sleeping comfortably is very important. 

There are a lot of affordable options in the market that you can just easily buy without thinking much about what you’re getting into. Negligence and not doing proper research can cost you proper sleep and rest. You can always read reviews and guides from review sites, such as https://mattress-review.org, so you know whether or not a certain mattress will fit your needs. 

If you’re into CrossFit, getting a proper good night’s sleep is vital to help recharge your body. That being said, here’s a guide to help you find high-quality mattresses that’ll provide you with more comfort and even proper body support as you sleep:

What is CrossFit?

CrossFit is a form of high-intensity interval training. It’s also a type of workout for strength and conditioning. The key focus of this particular kind of activity is doing movements at a high-intensity level. 

The actions that you perform under CrossFit are not that far from your regular day-to-day movements. Examples of these are squatting, pulling, and pushing. Sometimes, the workout includes weight lifting and other traditional workouts to help build muscles. During workouts, different types of equipment may also come into play, like kettlebells, bikes, medicine balls, ropes, and other traditional gym equipment. 

The reason why so many people are into CrossFit is that the workouts are effective and the participants feel that they’re really getting stronger. 

Regardless if you’re a beginner or a pro already competing in CrossFit competitions, like Brooke Ence, having proper rest while doing CrossFit is important. After a hard workout, you need ample time and rest in order for your muscles to recover well.

After doing CrossFit, the following are recommended:

  • Proper cool down: Don’t just abruptly stop a workout. The proper process of cooling down is recommended through the help of your coach. 
  • Avoid junk food. Opt for a more nutritious food: Within 5-10 minutes after a workout, protein is important. Did you know that consuming protein prevents drying, cracking, and tearing of muscles? It’s best to avoid junk food, not just after a workout, but all day in order to achieve the best recovery. 
  • Invest in a good night’s sleep: As a CrossFitter, it’s important that you get at least eight to ten hours of sleep. In addition to this, you should also have rest days and not work out for 7-day straight. 

This is why you need to invest in a quality mattress so that you can get the best out of your rest as soon as you close your eyes. 

brooke ence

Brooke Ence in action at the CrossFit Games

Benefits of Having Quality Mattresses

Quality of life and sleep is something that people should invest more in. When you get a good night’s rest, you wake up more energized to do life! 

This is especially true for CrossFitters. A lot of you people are into CrossFit in order to get healthy and get more out of life. Investing with a quality mattress is the same as investing in your health. Thus, CrossFit plus a good mattress means a healthy individual who gets the best out of life, while living to do it for a long time. 

Here are the benefits of having a quality mattress when you’re doing CrossFit:

  1. Lower Risks of Heart Attack or Stroke 

Getting at least 7- 9 hours of sleep lowers the risk of heart attacks and strokes. People who lack decent hours of sleep are more at risk for high blood pressure and rising cholesterol levels, which are the risk factors for having a stroke and a heart attack. 

If you’re into CrossFit, good health is very important so that you can continue doing physical activities. 

  1. May Prevent Cancer 

Cancer is a deadly disease that can get in the way of doing CrossFit if you’re not careful.

Researchers are led to believe that being exposed to blue light can actually reduce melatonin levels. Melatonin is the hormone that not only regulates your sleeping cycle but also suppresses tumor growths, which leads to cancer. Thus, people who are awake during the night are more at risk for cancer, such as breast and colon cancer.

If you don’t work the night shift or work at night, as you sleep, make sure that your bedroom is dark and your electronic gadgets are far from you so that your body can properly produce the melatonin that it needs. 

  1. Reduces Stress

Sleep deficiency causes stress in the body. This puts the function of the body on high alert, which causes high blood pressure and induces the production of stress hormones. 

High blood pressure leads to deadly diseases, like heart attack and stroke. 

  1. Sleeping Allows The Body To Repair Itself

Sleeping is not just a way to relax or catch up on rest, but it’s also the way your body repairs itself. What are the damages that your body needs to repair? 

Damaged caused by stress, ultraviolet, and harmful exposure by being outside. When you sleep, your body cells produce more protein molecules, which are the foundation of your cell. These molecules are what repairs the damages. 

crossfit mattress

Guide To Finding Quality Mattresses

With all these benefits, there’s really no excuse as to why you should not prioritize sleep. Especially if you’re an athlete or someone who’s into CrossFit, you know how sleep is important to your body’s performance. 

Now, it’s important to know where to look for a high-quality mattress and the different types of mattresses you can choose from. 

  1. Where To Find Quality Mattresses 

Today, you have different options on where you can purchase quality mattresses. Because of the power of the internet, you can choose to buy online, thus you no longer need to go to physical stores. 

Here are also other places you can buy high-quality mattresses: 

  • Buying on the website of companies who sell mattresses
  • Amazon marketplace
  • Hybrid stores
  • Showrooms
  • Department Stores
  1. Different Types of Mattresses

Since we already established why a good night’s rest is important and the health benefits of doing CrossFit, let’s now dive into the different types of quality mattresses that you can consider, especially if you’re doing CrossFit. 

After an eventful day of doing physical activity, you’ll want to sleep in a mattress that isn’t tough on your body but will give you incredible comfort so that your muscles can recharge themselves.  

This is beneficial to you because you’ll be guided to find one that best fits your lifestyle and your house. Certain features of different mattresses also target different levels of comfort to help you sleep better at night. 

If you’re thinking of replacing your mattress or you’re investing on one for the first time, here are some helpful things that you should know about: 

Gel-infused Mattresses

They’re also known as third-generation foam. Gel mattresses are produced using synthetic materials. These materials, commonly referred to as phase-changing materials, offer a certain kind of breathability that sets itself apart from the standard memory foam. This is why this type of foam is very popular today – not only does it give a certain kind of breathability, but it also provides an outstanding feeling of comfort.  

Here are other benefits that this mattress offers:

    • Cooler surface: Because of the enhanced air circulation on its mattress, they’re cooler to sleep on. 
    • It bounces back to its original form quickly: It shapes around your body faster, but also quickly returns back to its original form.

If you’re into a gel-infused mattress, but not yet sold out into the idea of buying one, you can look into its alternatives – gel-infused mattress pads and toppers. 

These pads are thin coverings that you can spread out in your bed that can come in various sizes. A lot of people use these because of its cooling benefits if they’re still not able to buy the mattress itself. 

Memory Foam

This type of foam is made of polyurethane, which easily molds itself around your body. Polyurethane is made from combined hydrocarbons coming from petroleum and water. 

The high-density and low-resilience form of polyurethane, combined with your body heat, allows the memory foam to easily with the shape of your body. Further, because of this material, this type of mattress is very popular among those who want a soft foam. 

Other benefits that this mattress includes: 

  • Aside from conforming to the natural shape of our body, the memory foam also evenly distributes body weight.
    • If you’re prone to allergies, this mattress prevents allergy-causing dust mites because of the fibers of polyurethane that prevent dust mites. 
    • Excessive movement in the sleeping surfaces is absorbed by the mattress, which decreases discomfort when sleeping. Thus, it limits motion transfer if you’re co-sleeping with someone.
    • They help alleviate body pain, soreness, and stiffness. Memory foam has the ability to relieve the uncomfortable feeling from your pressure points. 

Latex Foam

Latex foam is another great mattress that also conforms to the mold of your body. It caters to your body’s form when you lie on it, therefore many also choose this because of the comfort that it provides. 

Latex is harvested from rubber trees. Manufacturers chose this material because the process it involves requires minimal gas-offing and is all-natural. This means that there are no harmful chemicals used in the creation of the mattresses. 

When buying a latex foam mattress, make sure that you’re buying the ones made from natural rubber. Synthetic latex is made up of plastic known as Styrene Buradiene Rubber (SBR), which is a common substitute that manufacturers use for natural rubber. There are certain controversies on this, even though some are suggesting that SBR is actually chemical-free. Also, a synthetic mattress will not give you the comfort that you’re expecting as compared to a natural one. 

Other benefits that this mattress includes: 

    • They’re comfortable to lie down on.
    • They quickly bounce back up as well in a matter of seconds after rising up from the bed. 
    • It’s eco-friendly because it comes from rubber trees and promotes a more sustainable lifestyle. If purchasing environmentally friendly products is important to you, then you should definitely purchase this mattress.

Airbeds

Also known as air mattresses, airbeds are inflatable mattresses that are made from textile-reinforced urethane rubber or plastic. One great advantage of airbeds is that they’re compact, therefore, you can easily store them anywhere, not to mention that you can simply take this mattress on camping and vacation trips as well. You can also take them to the pool or to the beach where you can just lounge around while it floats. 

This mattress is very easy to use. You simply inflate these mattresses using an electric or manual pump. 

Other benefits of Airbeds include: 

  • It offers pain-relief to those suffering from backaches.
    • You can easily adjust the firmness of an air bed by customizing how much air goes into it. Adjusting its firmness is done to accommodate different body types and sizes. 
    • Some air beds that are available in stores were manufactured without the use of toxic elements.

Hybrid Mattresses

One of the main goals of this Hybrid mattress is to provide you with a personalized feel on your comfort. Most hybrid mattresses contain metal coils as those in conventional mattresses. These coils are wrapped in fabric pockets that offer additional support to the sleeper. 

Hybrid mattresses have more than one layer of polyurethane, latex, and memory foam. Combining these layers will give relief from pressure on the hips, shoulders, neck, and back. Without these discomforts, you get to sleep better. 

Other benefits of hybrid mattresses:

  • It has a flat surface, which is ideal for side sleepers because its base layers are composed of pocketed coils.
    • It has cooling properties that effectively diffuse the body heat of the sleeper.
    • This mattress is slightly larger than the conventional ones. Therefore, it has more sleeping space and it has superior edge support.
    • Maximum back support. Because of the coil springs in hybrid mattresses, pain in the back, joint, and neck are greatly reduced. 

Conclusion:

Choosing a quality mattress might be an intimidating task at first. The key to finding a quality mattress is proper research and consultation. Constantly explore options and don’t settle for the first one that you see. 

Being a CrossFitter entails special features that you’re probably looking for on your mattress. Choose one that fits your lifestyle and sleeping patterns. If you’re looking into something sustainable, there are also a lot of mattresses that fit these criteria. 

As you work hard on your physical well-being, don’t forget to prioritize relaxation and rest days. You’ll find that this will not weaken you but rather do the opposite.

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The Rx Review is an independent fitness website, reporting on the Sport of Fitness, functional fitness news, The CrossFit Games, health and diet related information, and also provides reviews on sports performance products.